Favorite Color
by yinspirit
Summary: He didn't always know he was a mutant. Once upon a time, he was just Karkat, and his blood color was his favorite color.


It was a normal Alternian night. Many of the young trolls were out playing, trying to outdo their neighbors in feats of strength and agility, trying to prove that they were the best. And tonight, Karkat was determined to join them. He didn't care what his cranky old Lusus said, in all of his two sweeps he hadn't even SPOKEN to another troll. They couldn't be that bad. He'd show him! Then he wouldn't have to be alone anymore. He quietly headed outside.

Karkat couldn't believe it. He was outside, and no one could stop him. He felt free for the first time in his life. Why had his Lusus tried to hide him anyway? There was nothing bad about these kids. One of them, a girl about his age, noticed him hanging back. "Hii theeree! II haaveen't seeeen yoouu beefooree. My naamee's Triishaa. Whaat's yoouurs?" Karkat was still a bit nervous and overwhelmed by it all. "Umm…Karkat. My name is Karkat," he said nervously. Trisha beamed. "Niicee to meeeet yoouu, Kaarkaat." She grabbed his hand. "Coomee meeeet thee ootheers!"

Karkat couldn't believe his luck! Not only had he met lots of new trolls to play with, but he was having fun! Nobody had said anything mean or questioned him, like his Lusus said they would. In fact, Karkat was smiling wider than he ever had before. Just goes to show that that old crab had no idea what he was talking about. He was just enjoying a nice game of tag with the kids when things began to go wrong. "Oof! Heey, bee caareefuul Koonshaa, yoouu puusheed toooo haard aand II feell!" "I'm sOrry Trisha, it's hard cOntrOlling blue-blOOd strength sOmetimes." "IIt's ookaay Koon, juust reemeembeer uus broown-bloooods aareen't aas duuraablee aas yoouu aaree." "You'rE A BrowN-BlooD?" chimed in Rattuk. "You'rE SO LuckY! I'M OnlY AN OlivE. DO YoU HavE AnY PowerS?" the three began chatting about blood and their perks, with Karkat just standing to the side awkwardly, not sure what all this fuss about blood was about. "Well what abOut yOu new guy? What cOlOr's your blOOd?" asked Konsha. "I..I don't really have a word for it.." As his friend's faces fell, Karkat decided there was another way for them to know. "But I can show you!" he exclaimed. He turned his back to them and, using his toy sickle, made a small cut on his palm. He turned to show them with a florish. Everyone gasped.

"WhaT KinD OF WeirD ColoR IS ThaT?" said Rattuk. The three other kids started to giggle. Karkat became perplexed. "What do you mean weird? It's just my blood." Karkat looked at his palm again and gave a small smile. He had always thought it was a pretty color. He tried to get things in that color, but his Lusus would never let him. Still, it was his favorite. "Oh my gOOdness, what a weirdO. Little idiOt dOesn't even knOw hOw stupid he is." Konsha came up and pushed Karkat to the ground. "H-hey! What was that for?" he exclaimed. Konsha just laughed. Then she and Rattuk began to kick Karkat calling him names. Trisha just stood there and laughed. "H-help me," Karkat called to her. "Why shoouuld II?" then she spat in his face. "Freeaak." the other trolls continued beating on him until the air was pierced with an ear shattering "SKREEEEE!" The three kids instantly scattered, leaving Karkat curled in a ball on the ground. He was so confused he hadn't even thought to fight back. Crabdad, who had been the one to scree, picked him up and ran back to their hive.

"No, it was only those three. No, their Lusii weren't there." Karkat had been answering his guardian's questions all night, yet he was still in the dark. "W-why Crabdad? Why did they do that? They were so nice but..when they saw my blood…" His lusus clacked his jaws softly, and began to explain. "W-what do you mean it's not normal? My blood is fine. What does mutation mean? What's the hemo spectrum?" The questions continued, until finally his young brain understood. "You mean..no matter what I say…or do… I'll always be an outcast…because of my blood? And everyone will want to hurt me?" Crabdad nodded. "B-but that's not fair. What did I do to deserve this? Why didn't you tell me? I…I HATE THAT! I HATE MY LIFE! I HATE SOCIETY! I HATE YOU! HATE! HATE! HATE!" Your crabdad left you screaming on the couch as he gathered up some essentials. Then he picked you up and set out to find a new home far, far away. They never saw those trolls again.

Even in his new hive, Karkat was bound by society. The hate he felt for his unfair placement left him bitter. He found romcoms and fell in love with them, because they showed what he felt he could never have. Who would love a mutant blood like him, who should have been culled the day he was hatched? I he felt flushed for anyone…if he let them get close…if they found out…. No. He couldn't let that happen. And so he continued to push others away. No one deserved to be friends with the outcast. No one could kill him if they didn't know the reason he deserved to die. He yelled at anyone and everyone. But sometimes, when the sun was high in the sky, he would cry. He would cry because he so badly wanted a companion who would love him for who he was. He would cry because he wanted to be worth something, but he knew he never would be. But most of all, he cried because his favorite color became his worst enemy.

A.N. Oh my god guys, it's been forever! Anyway, I decided to write a homestuck fic. This is my attempt to sad stuck. Today I thought to myself "Karkat couldn't have always known he was a mutant. You aren't born knowing things like that. How did he find out?" And then my imagination ran wild. I MAY write a kind of sequel to this about him finally letting someone close *cough*Terezi*cough* and how it turns out, but I think I'm gonna stick with this for now. Enjoy!


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